Semua Bab The Girl with the Masks and The Student Body President: Bab 121 - Bab 130

Across the room, Aunt Jen wore a smug smile as she took in the chaos her daughter stirred. She was thrilled that Tara had managed to drive a wedge between me and the boy who, an hour earlier, was declaring his fondness for only me. After a night of near-constant losses, her daughter had finally won. It didn’t matter the underhanded methods or the havoc she wrought; my aunt was pleased with the work of her daughter’s hands.  “Why don’t we give him a chance to speak before getting so up in arms?” Aunt Rebecca asked, descending the stairs.“Why?” Mom asked. “So he can lie to us and my daughter again?”“I’m not trying to—” Jayden tried but once again, he was cut off.“Shut up!” Mom said, all but screaming at him.Mom’s demeanour had grown so hostile that even Tara saw the need to say something. “Aunt Anna, I already said it wasn’t

My voice was barely above a whisper when I spoke. “Let me go…”“You don’t want me to.”“Yes, I do.” My tone left us both unconvinced, but my next actions cemented my decision. I pulled out of Jayden’s grasp and sprinted inside without ever looking back. I couldn’t bear to see his final look as I ran away. It would cause me to melt then there was every chance I would’ve gone back on what I knew to be a necessary evil.It had to be done, no matter how much it hurt in the moment.I tossed the front door open then made an immediate beeline for the sanctity of my room. My family, even in the middle of their own business, were shamelessly nosy and I wasn’t in the mood to explain the decision I’d just made to people I was certain didn’t truly care one way or the other. I needed to be alone for the inevitable breakdown I’d only barely kept at bay.Inside my room, I s

I swallowed roughly but knew there was no going back. “Aunt Jen’s the one on about Mom disowning her grandchild but she’s even worse. She forced Tara to have an abortion. Mom …sometimes pretends hers doesn’t exist but, Aunt Jen, you wouldn’t let yours live in the first place.”I watched my grandmother’s eyes grow wide as she turned to face my aunt. “You killed my great-grandchild?”Aunt Jen was quick to respond even as she scrambled to find words. It was an accusation she couldn’t bluff her way around given my grandmother’s strong sense of family.“Mom—no, I—it wasn’t—”

Blinded by my preoccupations, I didn’t see Jonie until after she slammed me into a nearby locker. It took my eyes an extra second to focus and my brain another minute, but I could see by her creased brows that she was upset.“What the hell’s wrong with you?” The girl had never been one for small talk and didn’t think that day would be a good time to change that.My own brows creased as I took in her frustration. “What…are you talking about?” I’d been at school for barely 10 minutes. In that time, it was unlikely I’d manage to do anything of consequence to the often-elusive girl.“Why did you break up with Jayden? Have you lost your ever-loving mind?”I eased her away from me, not in the mood to deal with something so comparatively trivial when I’d likely arrived at the end of my life and had only hours to live. While I cared for Jayden and was still hurt by the events of the previous night, they paled in comparison to the mortal danger that stared me in t

At the end of the day, Jayden sat out on the steps with me to wait for my mother. I’d poured my heart out to him during the lunch period, and he was as anxious as I was for what might be waiting for me upon her arrival. He wanted to follow me home and stay for as long as he was allowed but I knew my mother would never go for it.While not shy, she typically preferred to go without an audience when the devil took over.Jayden’s phone rang.I watched his brows furrow as he tried to read the ID but nothing came up. It was an unknown number. Confused, he answered it. “Hello? Uh…yeah, she’s right here…” I shot him a curious look but there was no need for questions. In another second, he handed his phone to me. “It’s your mom.”I hesitated a moment before placing the phone to my ear. “Hello?”“Hello, darling.” The sing-song cadence of her voice coming through the phone